Fort Greene

Stately brownstones line quiet, leafy streets in Fort Greene, the neighborhood immediately east of Downtown Brooklyn. DeKalb and Myrtle Avenues feature plentiful shopping and dining, and on warm summer nights, residents and visitors flock to trendy outdoor cafes. There’s no shortage of cultural attractions either: the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) to the south and the Pratt Institute to the east keep the neighborhood buzzing with artsy types, who can be found strolling through magnificent Fort Greene Park when they’re not creating. Fort Greene was built as a neighborhood for the wealthy in the late 19th century, and, following a period when brownstones were converted to boarding houses, it caught the attention of well-off homebuyers once again in the 1980s. Housing ranges from lovingly-restored three-story townhouses to less expensive low-rises a few blocks away from the commercial centers. Business owners might see a boost in traffic from the soon-to-be-built Atlantic Yards development at the southern edge of the neighborhood, though plans for the new housing and commercial center remain controversial. A dozen subway services stop in or close to the neighborhood, whisking residents to Manhattan and other areas in Brooklyn.